Pie and Coffee

Where shall the word be found, where will the word Resound? Not here, there is not enough silence —T.S. Eliot

Lenten gameplan, 2018

posted by Mike on February 14th, 2018

A: As Lent approaches, I am both grateful that Facebook remains the *perfect* thing to “give up,” as well as a bit concerned that what with recent Facebook timeline tweaks making it more boring, the time may soon come when giving up Facebook is as blah as giving up LinkedIn. Maybe we didn’t know how good we had it…

B: Resources. Do I want to waste either of our time pointing you to some good resources? If there’s one thing our cup overfloweth with in 2018, it is resources.

C: Elizabeth Bruenig at Harvard Feb 20: “Religion, Politics, and the Left.” The last time both Bruenigs spoke at Harvard it was not only a great lecture it drew a really fun crowd. Let’s rideshare to this Liz-only talk Worcester buds. (In her last talk she did say of the Catholic Worker movement, “While it was flourishing, it was pretty impressive.” We will overlook that.)

Technical Difficulties w/Kayti Burt (508 #281)

posted by Mike on January 16th, 2018

508 is a show about Worcester. This week, we have lots of audio and video trouble, including losing most of the first half of the show. On the plus side, pop culture journalist Kayti Burt joins them to talk about the pros and cons of life in Worcester and the stories we tell about it.

Cheers, Worcester (508 #280)

posted by Mike on January 10th, 2018

508 is a show about Worcester. This week, Brendan and Mike discuss the stories we tell about Worcester, which ones are helpful, and which ones we should reexamine in 2018. This show was taped in the studios of Unity Radio, broadcasting with 0.0000001 gigawatts of power on 102.9FM in Worcester. It’s possible this setup was too much for Mike to manage…

Sata vuotta sitten – one hundred years ago

My rough translation of a first-hand account of the Finnish Civil War, from a 1960 book. The citation and a link to the original text is at the end.

On the way to armed struggle

Dr J. A. Pärnänen had been the headmaster of the Workers’ Education Institute [in Tampere] since 1908. He made sure that the lecturers were not only academics with just master’s degrees or mere doctorates, but also professors from universities – occasionally also lawyers. As 1918 approached with all its tensions, he wanted a lawyer to come to explain to the youth about the new Acts on local elections, which were passed after much controversy. The job fell on the secretary of the city council, a young lawyer [the author himself]. Continue reading »

Nobody gets anything done just by themselves. Usually, only Evil goes quickly, and invites immediate responses – knee-jerk reactions. In contrast, the Good is often slow, because it builds something radical. The Good is only good, if it is such that the Other can use – at the service of someone else. The Good gives for someone else to use, and gets things done taking into account what the Other is doing.